Sick betta needs help!

This is a discussion on Sick betta needs help! within the Tropical Fish Diseases forums, part of the Freshwater Fish and Aquariums category; -->
I was just given a male Betta fish yesterday and he hasn't eaten any food since I got him yesterday afternoon. He is very ...

I was just given a male Betta fish yesterday and he hasn't eaten any food since I got him yesterday afternoon. He is very inactive, swimming around very slowly once in a while but mainly staying at the bottom of the bowl. His fins are very limp and appear to be rotting away. What should I do? - Janey

He is in a fishbowl the size usually used for a goldfish. sometimes he seems to twitch. he sort of moves back and forth rapidly for a second or two then stops.

Hi Janey.

I would monitor the water parameters like ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH if I were you just as a precaution. API liquid test kit is recommended. If you cannot afford it, let your local fish store test it for you but be sure that their test kit is a liquid test kit, not test strips. Let them write down the exact results and post them here.

I forgot to add that your betta has bacterial fin rot. Frequent partial water changes are needed to improve its condition. Do you use dechlorinator to cancel out the chlorine and chloramine? Any medications used against bacterial infection will work. Use only one medicine and avoid at all costs from buying any other medicines.